Proposal No. 1791-157, entitled "Lifetimes and Fates of Toxic Air Contaminants in California's Atmosphere," submitted by the University of California, Riverside, for a total amount not to exceed $99,005.

Proposal Number 1792-157, entitled "Growth, Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) to Ozone," submitted by the University of California, Riverside, for a total amount not to exceed $59,965.

ITEM NO.: 90-7-1

Proposed Regulation for Consumer Products in the Bay Area AirQuality Management District.

RECOMMENDATION

The staff recommends that the Air Resources Board (ARB) approvethe proposed Regulation.

DISCUSSION

The ARB staff has developed a regulation for the control of VOCemissions from consumer products in the BAAQMD. The proposedregulation was developed in response to a U.S. District Courtorder resulting from the consolidated cases of Citizens for aBetter Environment v. George Deukmejian and Sierra Club v.Metropolitan Transportation Commission, et al.. The court orderrequires the ARB or the BAAQMD to achieve emissions reductions ofat least 1.0 tons per day by February 1, 1991 and 4.0 tons perday by February 1, 1993.

In an agreement between the ARB and the BAAQMD, the BAAQMD isresponsible for the adoption of an aerosol paint regulation thatwill achieve a 1.0 ton per day emission reduction by February 1,1991. The ARB is responsible for a regulation that will, inconjunction with the BAAQMD regulation on aerosol paints, achievea total VOC emission reduction of at least 4.0 tons per day byFebruary 1, 1993.

The proposed regulation will reduce VOC emissions from consumerproducts in the BAAQMD by establishing limits on the VOC contentof the following six product categories: air fresheners, enginedegreasers, hair sprays, oven cleaners, window cleaners, andwindshield washer fluids. In addition, a provision is includedthat prohibits the new use of ozone depleting compounds inconsumer products. Manufacturers are also required to displaythe date of manufacture on each product container. Theregulation contains several exemptions, including an exemptionfor organic compounds with very low vapor pressure. Test methodsto determine the VOC content of consumer products are provided.

Emissions from the six product categories covered by the proposedregulation are estimated at 14.3 tons per day in the BAAQMD. Theemission reductions possible from the implementation of thisregulation are estimated at 3.3 tons per day. Slightly higherthan the required 3 tons per day to allow a margin for error.

The ARB staff developed the proposed regulation in a process thatincluded two public workshops attended primarily by manufacturersof consumer products and members of consumer product tradeorganizations. ARB staff also considered comments supplied inwriting and in telephone conversations and informal meetings. Another source of information included available responses to anARB survey sent to industry to determine the market share and VOCcontent of consumer products.

The ARB staff believe that the proposed regulation sets VOClimits that are commercially and technologically feasible. Existing products are available that meet the VOC standards foreach product category.

In the development of the proposed regulation, ARB staffevaluated the cost impact on businesses that could be affected bythe regulation. The cost effectiveness wast estimated to bebelow $1.00 per pound of VOC reduced for most of the affectedproducts. The regulation is not expected to have a significantadverse impact on small businesses.

In addition to developing a regulation to comply with the court'sorder to adopt a consumer products regulation for the BAAQMD, astatewide consumer products regulation is also being developedfor the Board's consideration in October 1990. At that time,staff may make a recommendation that the Board rescind theregulation proposed here and replace it with the statewideregulation. In this case, staff will ensure that the statewideregulation will achieve at least a 3 ton per day emissionreduction by February 1, 1993 in the Bay Area Air QualityManagement District as required by the court order.

ITEM NO.: 90-7-2

Public Hearing to Consider the Adoption of Amendments to Criteriafor Designating Areas as Nonattainment, Attainment, orUnclassified for State Ambient Air Quality Standards.

RECOMMENDATION

The staff recommends the Board adopt the proposed new Sections70303 and 70304(d).

DISCUSSION

The California Clean Air Act of 1988 (the "Act") requires theBoard to establish criteria for designating areas asnonattainment, attainment, or unclassified for pollutants forwhich there are state ambient air quality standards ("statestandards"). The Board adopted designation criteria at a publichearing on June 8, 1989. Because there was testimony at thathearing indicating concern with provisions in the adoptedcriteria, the Board directed the staff to form a work group toexamine possible alternatives to the definitions and standards inthose criteria.

The staff established the Criteria Work Group in August 1989. The group met monthly through January 1990 to discuss issues anddevelop alternative approaches. As a result of the efforts ofthe work group, the staff recommends two amendments to theadopted criteria. First, the staff recommends Section 70303 beadded to define a transitional subcategory of nonattainment. Nonattainment-transitional status would apply to areas that areclose to attaining the state standards. Second, the staffrecommends adding Section 70304(d) to clarify the conditionsunder which a nonattainment area may be redesignated asattainment when monitoring at a high concentration site has beendiscontinued.

The staff also recommends that the Board clarify its policy forambient air quality monitoring to specifically address monitoringin unclassified areas and monitoring in areas designated asnonattainment based on information other than air quality datafrom the area.